Telephony system

ABSTRACT

In IP telephony systems, it has become impossible to detect the location of installation of a telephone terminal from the telephone number, since an IP telephone terminal can be installed in an arbitrary location. Also, even if one observes the calling party number presentation at the time of an incoming call, it has become impossible to grasp from where the calling party is placing the outgoing call. It is possible that, within an IP telephony system, a terminal location detection means is configured and the installation location of a telephone terminal is detected simultaneously with the registration of the telephone terminal. In addition, the problem can be solved by configuring, in an IP telephony server, a device of reporting location information about the correspondent to the telephone terminal and by configuring, in the telephone terminal, a device of displaying the received positional information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to an IP telephony system displaying thelocations of telephone terminals.

Since conventional telephony systems are connection schemes based onindependent telephone lines, it has not been possible to readily moveand modify a telephone terminal or a telephone number. However, in IPtelephony systems, whose spread has been observed in recent years, apoint has been reached, since they are connection schemes passingthrough an IP network, where IP telephone terminals can function astelephones anywhere if they are connected to an IP network. In this way,it has become possible, in an IP telephony system, to freely move an IPtelephone terminal without any restrictions in particular on thelocation of connection of the IP telephone terminal.

A general IP telephony system is composed of an IP telephony server,each of the IP telephone terminals, and a network connecting these. TheIP telephony server is composed of a telephone terminal management tableadministering telephone numbers corresponding to the IP addresses oftelephone terminals under control; a terminal registration partregistering, in the telephone terminal management table, the telephonenumbers corresponding to the IP addresses of the telephone terminalsunder control; and a call connection part connecting, with respect to anoutgoing telephone call request from a terminal, the telephone terminalof the other party. Each IP telephone terminal also has a callconnection part. In an IP telephony system, it comes about that, byregistering the telephone terminal information of each IP telephoneterminal as the initial setting in the telephone terminal managementtable, each of the IP telephone terminals can for the first time carryout outgoing and incoming telephone calls.

As a call connection specification that is utilized in as standardizedway in IP telephony systems, there is the Session Initiation Protocol(below abbreviated as SIP). In SIP, basic sequences of a terminalregistration method and a call connection method are standardized. In anIP telephony system, taking the opportunity of the time of connectionwith the network and the time at which power is turned on, the IPtelephone terminal sends a REGISTER command, which is a terminalregistration request command including the telephone number and the IPaddress of the IP telephone terminal, to the IP telephony server. The IPtelephony server having received this registers IP telephone terminalattribute information, such as the extension number and the IP addressof the IP telephone terminal, in the telephone terminal management tableby means of the terminal registration part. The IP telephony serverreturns “200 OK” as the processing result if what is concerned is aregular termination. In the aforementioned series of processes, the IPtelephone terminal is registered in the IP telephony server and isdevised to be able to function as a telephone terminal.

Next, there will be described the process in the case where an outgoingtelephone call is placed from the IP telephone terminal on the outgoingcall side to the IP telephone terminal on the incoming call side. Thiscall connection process is one that is executed between the callconnection parts of the IP telephone terminal on the outgoing call sideand the IP telephone terminal on the incoming call side, and the callconnection part of the IP telephony server.

First, the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side sends an INVITEcommand, which is a call connection request command, to the IP telephonyserver. The IP telephony server having received this deduces the IPaddress, corresponding to the extension number of the telephone terminalon the incoming call side, from the telephone terminal management tableand sends an INVITE command destined for the same IP address. Also, theIP telephony server sends a TRYING command, which is a command duringprocessing, to the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side. Thetelephone terminal on the incoming call side returns a TRYING commandwith respect to the connection request from the IP telephony server.Next, the telephone terminal on the incoming call side sends, togetherwith sounding a ring back tone, a RINGING command, which is a commandduring paging, to the IP telephony server. If the IP telephony serverreceives this, it sends a RINGING command to the telephone terminal onthe outgoing call side. If a receiver at the telephone terminal on theincoming call side is picked up, or the like, to reply to the paging,the telephone terminal on the incoming call side sends the “200 OK”command, which is a command to the effect that connection is possible,sent by the telephone terminal on the incoming call side to the IPtelephony server. If the IP telephony server receives this, it sends a“200 OK” command, which is a command to the effect that connection ispossible, to the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side.

If the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side receives this, itsends an ACK command, which is a connection call completion command, tothe IP telephony server and starts the input and output of voice data.The IP telephony server receives this, and sends an ACK command to thetelephone terminal on the incoming call side. The telephone terminal onthe incoming call side receives this, completes connection control, andstarts input and output of the voice data. By means of theaforementioned series of call connection processes, telephonecommunication is launched between the telephone terminal on the outgoingcall side and the telephone terminal on the incoming call side.

In this way, the IP telephone terminal has the characteristic, byregistering its own IP address in the IP telephony server afterconnecting with the IP network, of being able to function as a telephoneterminal no matter where it is connected with the IP network. Also, SIPis the standard specification, but there is an extension field in thetransmitted and received commands and by utilizing this field,individual data transfers between a telephone terminal and the IPtelephony server, or between the telephone terminals themselves, aremade possible without modifying the basic call connection sequence.

In free address offices, which have become popular in recent years, whatis concerned is an office environment where business operations arepossible by connecting one's own Personal Computer (below abbreviated asPC) wherever one is sitting inside the company. In an office environmentsuch as this, best use is made of the characteristics of theaforementioned IP telephony system, so if the IP telephone set havingone's own extension number is connected with the IP network at the seatwhere one has sat down, it becomes possible, by having the IP telephoneset carry out registration processing in the IP telephony server, toutilize the set as one's own extension telephone set at the same seat.Regarding the IP address, it is possible for the IP telephone set toacquire it automatically after connection with the IP network byutilizing DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Also, as an IPtelephone terminal oriented toward this free address office, a softphonefunctioning on a notebook type PC that is comparatively easily portableis appropriate. The utilization of thin clients preventing leakage ofinformation during transport outside the company is spreading and thereare also being developed softphones that can also be utilized with athin client. In an IP telephony system, the effect of being able to“carry along” this number, one's own extension telephone number, issignificant, making it possible to place and receive telephone callswith one's own extension number at any base that is connected with thecompany internal IP network e.g. in the case, during a business trip orthe like, of moving to a base office and connecting with the companyinternal IP network, or the like.

Moreover, since the positions of getting seated are free in this freeaddress office, there is the problem that it becomes impossible to knowthe seating positions. With respect to this problem, there is proposed,e.g. in JP-A-2005-94127, a method of detecting the seating state used bythe telephone terminal. JP-A-2005-94127 is one procedure for detectingthe location utilized by the telephone terminal, there being proposed touse the fact that the telephone terminal and the PC are connected as apair and the PC having a mechanism of alerting the server about theexistence of a telephone terminal connected with it. In other words, aPC for transmitting positional information the server becomes necessary,there being the problem that the telephone terminal considered inisolation is unable to detect the same location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As stated above, in IP telephony systems, it has become impossible todetect the location of installation from the telephone number as wasconventionally the case, since the installation locations of IPtelephone terminals are free. Even if it would be possible, there hasbeen the need to carry out special processing on the terminal side, inthe location where the IP telephone terminal is utilized, with a PC orthe like communicating positional information to the server. In thiscase, there has been a need to bring to the terminal side a specialfunction for transmitting positional information, in addition to aserver collecting terminal location information. Because of that, therehas arisen an increase in the financial cost and a need to bring thesame function between all the terminals, so there has been a problemfrom the aspect of expansion.

Also, even if observing the calling party number presentation at thetime of receiving the telephone call, it has been inconvenient not to beable to grasp from where the calling party was placing the call. Also,it has been inconvenient not to be able to grasp the situation of thefloor of the calling party and not to be able to carry on a conversationwhile feeling at ease.

In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, there is, in thepresent invention, characterized the fact of bringing a function ofdetecting the location of a terminal on the server side of the IPtelephony system. As a result hereof, the need to bring to the terminalside a special function for communicating positional information to theserver is eliminated and if what is concerned is an IP telephone capableof connection with the IP network, acquisition of positional informationbecomes possible, independently of the manufacturer or the type. Also,in the IP telephony server, there is configured a means of reporting theother party's positional information to a telephone terminal. Moreover,the system is characterized by providing, in the telephone terminal, ameans of displaying received positional information. In addition, incase the telephone terminal is a softphone on a PC on which otherprograms can operate, the system is characterized by providing a meansof cooperation with a floor plan display system in the softphone.

According to the present invention, it is possible to correctly graspthe current telephone terminal installation location without installingspecial equipment for local presentation. In particular, even in thecase of a mobile type telephone terminal such as a softphone or aportable terminal, it is possible to grasp the current location. Also,at the time of placing the telephone call, it is possible to display, onthe telephone terminals of the calling party and the called party, theinstallation location of the other party's telephone terminal. As aresult hereof, it is possible to understand from where the other partyis placing the call and to carry on the conversation while feeling atease. Even in the case of making a telephone call in a softphone from aPC or a thin client in a free address office, the system is devised sothat the seating position is displayed correctly to the other part.Further, in the case of receiving a call to a softphone on a PC, it ispossible to display a plan of the floor on which the calling partytelephone terminal is installed, together with receiving the call, theresult being that it is possible to check the surrounding environment ofthe calling party and the existence of seated persons in thesurroundings and to carry on a conversation while feeling at ease.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example of an IP telephony system block diagram showing anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a block diagram explaining a location detectionscheme.

FIG. 3 is an example of a process flow explaining the location detectionscheme.

FIG. 4 is an example of a telephone terminal management table.

FIG. 5 is an example of a terminal registration process sequence showingan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of a summary switch table.

FIG. 7 is an example of a port location map.

FIG. 8 is an example of a connection control sequence showing anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example of a diagram in which a location is displayed on atelephone terminal.

FIG. 10 is an example of an IP telephony system block diagram showing anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of a process sequence when a softphone isreceiving an incoming call.

FIG. 12 is a PC screen display example when a softphone is receiving anincoming call.

FIG. 13 is an example of an IP telephony server process flow executed ifa REGISTER command is received from an IP telephone terminal.

FIG. 14 is an example of an IP telephony server process flow executed ifan INVITE command is received from an IP telephone terminal.

FIG. 15 is an example of a hardware configuration of an IP telephonyserver and a location detection server.

FIG. 16 is an example of an IP telephone terminal hardwareconfiguration.

FIG. 17 is an example of a floor plan data storage table.

FIG. 18 is an example of a coordinate storage table.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

1. The First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing an embodiment of an IPtelephony system of the present invention. That is to say that it iscomposed of an IP telephony server 100 being a company Private Branchexchange PBX, respective IP telephone terminals 121 and 131 connectedwith a floor of a base such as a building in which an office is housed,a location detection server 200 detecting IP equipment locations, and anIP network 110 connecting these. Each of IP telephone terminals 121 and131 is taken to be connected with IP telephony server 100 via a relaydevice such as a switch or a router. Of course, it is also possible forthem to be directly connected without passing through a relay device. Inthe present embodiment, telephone terminal 121 is present at B1 on adesk 122 within Floor X 120. Similarly, telephone terminal 131 ispresent at A2 on a desk 132 inside Floor Y 130.

The hardware of IP telephony server 100 and location detection server200 may be normal information processing devices, an example of a blockdiagram thereof being shown in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, an informationprocessing device 1701 has a configuration in which a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit) 1702, a memory 1703, a hard disk drive 1704, an I/Ointerface 1705, and a network interface 1706 are connected with acommunication bus 1707.

The hardware of each of IP telephone terminals 121 and 131 may be normalIP telephone devices, an example of a block diagram thereof being shownin FIG. 16. Generally, an IP telephone device has a configuration inwhich a device body 1801 is connected with a handset 1808 consisting ofa microphone/speaker. Device body 1801 is composed of a CPU 1802, amemory 1803, a network interface 1804, and an analog/digital conversionpart 1805 which are connected with communication bus 1807 and, further,of an analog interface 1806 linked with analog/digital conversion part1805. The functions shown in FIG. 1 are e.g. mounted as programs and, inIP telephony server 100 and location detection server 200, the programsof each function are read from memory 1703 and are executed by means ofCPU 1702. In IP telephone device 1801, similarly, the programsimplementing each function are read from memory 1803 and are executed bymeans of CPU 1802.

IP telephony server 100 has a telephone terminal management table 103saving IP addresses of IP telephone terminals 121 and 131, telephonenumbers, positional information, and the like; a terminal registrationpart 101 registering the IP addresses and telephone numbers of IPtelephone terminals 121 and 131 in telephone terminal management table103; a call connection part 102 carrying out telephone call connections;and a terminal location detection part 104, which is a characteristic ofthe present embodiment, detecting the installation location of a pieceof IP equipment. Terminal location detection part 104 is one thatdetects, from the IP address of a piece of IP equipment, the locationwhere the same piece of IP equipment is installed. In practice, terminallocation detection part 104 pages location detection server 200 and,from the IP address, carries out a detection of the location where thesame piece of equipment is installed. Further, in the presentembodiment, there is chosen a configuration in which the function ofdetecting the location of installation of a piece of IP equipment ismounted in location detection server 200, but a configuration in whichthis function is mounted in the same casing as IP telephony server 100may also be chosen.

Telephone terminals 121 and 131 respectively have a call connection part141 for carrying out call connection processing and a location displaypart 142 displaying positional information about the telephone terminalof the telephone conversation partner.

First, there will be given a detailed explanation regarding an IPequipment location detection method related with a characteristic of thepresent embodiment. This is a method which, from the IP address of thepiece of IP equipment desired to be looked up, detects the location ofinstallation of the same piece of IP equipment. FIG. 2 is a blockdiagram explaining this method and is composed of location detectionserver 200, a network switch 221 (below abbreviated as “switch”), anetwork 110 connecting these, and a piece of IP equipment 223 connectedwith switch 221. Location detection server 200 has a summary switchtable 202 and a port location map 203, and a location detection part 201which, utilizing the data of these, can detect the location of a pieceof IP equipment from an IP address.

Summary switch table 202 includes, as shown in FIG. 6, switch IDs 701and switch IP addresses 702. Port location map 203 includes, as shown inFIG. 7, switch IDs 703, switch port numbers 704, floors 705, and seatingnumbers 706. The defined information of summary switch table 202 andport location map 203 is information that can, in either case, be dataregistered at the time of constructing the company network. Also, in thepresent example, the information is divided into two data tables, butthe information may also be defined in one table.

Switch 221 is of an intelligent type provided with an external interfacecapable of information transfer to and from an external computer. As theexternal interface of switch 221, the Simple Network Management Protocol(below abbreviated as SNMP) is utilized widely even generally. Theexternal computer, utilizing SNMP, can acquire IP address and MACaddress information about piece of IP terminal or equipment 223controlled inside the switch. Piece of IP equipment 223 is a piece ofequipment that operates by being connected with an IP network like withPCs and IP telephone sets. In the configuration of FIG. 2, in order toexplain in concrete terms the processing method of detecting thelocation of installation of piece of IP equipment 223, “SW1” isallocated for the switch ID of switch 221 and “10.0.1.200” for theswitch IP address, floor 220 is taken to be “Osaka” and seating number“A1” to seating number “A4” are allocated to desk 222 inside floor 220,and a LAN cable 224 appearing at “A1” to “A4” is taken to be wired toswitch ports #1 to #4 of switch 221. If these pieces of installationinformation are stored in respectively summary switch table 202 and portlocation map 203, the result is as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

Here, piece of IP equipment 223 having the IP address “10.0.1.1” and theMAC address “00: 00: 00: 00: 00: 01” is taken to be that installed atseat “A2” and connected with LAN cable 224.

In FIG. 3, the process flow of location detection part 201 is shown.First, location detection part 201 detects a MAC address from the searchobject IP address (Process 301). For the MAC address detection, theresult thereof is determined by issuing MAC address search commands inregular order with respect to each of the switches registered in summaryswitch table 202. As for the MAC address search command, if e.g. SNMP isused, it becomes “snmpget (IP address of the switch)1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.1.2.1. (search object IP address)”. The command“snmpget” is an information acquisition command with respect to anSMTP-compatible piece of equipment. As the first argument, the IPaddress of the switch requesting information acquisition is detected. Asthe second argument, parameters specifying the information to beacquired are detected. In the present embodiment, in case information isrequested of switch 221, it becomes like “snmpget 10.0.1.2001.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.1.2.1.10.0.1.1”. Among the second parameters of thecommand, the ending four-digit numeral “10.0.1.1” is the search objectIP address. Switch 221 returns a corresponding MAC address with respectto this command, if a piece of equipment having a MAC addresscorresponding to the search object IP address is connected. The SNMPresult is e.g. returned as “1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.1.2.1. (search object IPaddress)=(MAC address)”. In the present example, as the result of asearch of the switch ID “SW1” by location detection part 201, the MACaddress “00: 00: 00: 00: 00: 01” corresponding to the IP address“10.0.1.1” is returned as “1.3.6.1.2.1.4.22.1.2.1.10.0.1.1=00: 00: 00:00: 00: 01” from SW1 to location detection part 221.

Next, location detection part 201 detects a port number from the MACaddress (Process 302). For the port number detection, the result thereofis determined by issuing port search commands in regular order withrespect to each of the switches registered in summary switch table 202.The port search command becomes, if e.g. SNMP is used, “snmpget (switchIP address) 1.3.6.1.2.17.4.3.1.2. (search MAC address)”. In the presentembodiment, in case information is requested of switch 221, it becomeslike “snmpget 10.0.1.200 1.3.6.1.2.1.17.4.3.1.2.00.00.00.00.00.01”. Withrespect to this command, switch 221 returns the port number of theswitch with which the terminal thereof is connected, in case the searchobject MAC address is connected. E.g., the SNMP result is returned as“1.3.6.1.2.1.17.4.3.1.2. (search MAC address)=(port number)”. In thepresent example, it is returned as“1.3.6.1.2.1.17.4.3.1.2.00.00.00.00.00.01=2”, “2” being the port numberof the switch with which the piece of equipment having the switch ID“SW1” and the MAC address “00: 00: 00: 00: 00: 01” is connected.

Subsequently, location detection part 201 detects the location ofinstallation from the switch ID and the switch port number (Process303). In order to perform the detection of the location of installation,location detection part 201 extracts the floor and seat numbercorresponding to the switch ID and the switch port number obtained inProcess 302 by searching, in regular order, the data records of portlocation map 203. In the present example, based on the switch “SW1” andthe port number “2”, it searches port location map 203 and obtains thatthe floor is “Osaka” and the seat number is “A2”.

By means of the aforementioned series of processes, in locationdetection part 201, it is possible to detect the location ofinstallation of piece of IP equipment 223 from the given IP address.Moreover, in the present series of processes, it is also possible toomit Process 301 in case the MAC address is known in advance.

The processing scheme shown in FIG. 3 is a scheme of detecting, oneafter another, the connection locations of piece of IP equipment 223 ande.g., even if the connection location of piece of IP equipment 223 haschanged, it has the characteristic of being able to detect the normallycorrect installation location. E.g., in FIG. 2, in case piece of IPequipment 223, which is installed at “A2”, is relocated and connected to“A4”, it is possible, by detecting port number “4” in Process 302 ofFIG. 3, to correctly obtain the floor “Osaka” and the seat number “A4”in subsequent Process 303. In this way, the aforementioned proposedscheme, even in the case where the connection state of piece of IPequipment 223 sometimes changes every moment, has the characteristic ofbeing able to correctly acquire the location of connection at that time.

In FIG. 1, telephone terminal management table 103 within IP telephonyserver 100 is a table registering IP telephone terminals in order toperform a telephone exchange function associated with the IP telephonysystem. Telephone terminal management table 103 is, as shown in FIG. 4,managed including information such as extension numbers 401 and IPaddresses 402 allocated to telephone terminals. In the presentembodiment, it is a characteristic that there is provided an area inwhich it is possible to store telephone terminal installation locationsin this telephone terminal management table 103, as shown in location ID403 of FIG. 4.

Next, an explanation will be given regarding the processing schemewhereby the location of a telephone terminal is detected simultaneouslywith the telephone terminal registration. Terminal location detectionpart 104 is a part that detects, on the basis of the IP address of atelephone terminal registered in terminal registration part 101, thelocation of the telephone terminal, and registers this locationinformation in telephone terminal management table 103. The series ofsequences, from the registration of the telephone terminal up to thedetection of the location of the registered telephone terminal is shownin FIG. 5. IP telephony server 100 carries out, when a REGISTER commandis received from telephone terminal 131 (Process 611), an enquiry aboutthe location of telephone terminal 131 to location detection server 200(Process 612). Location detection server 200 returns the location ID ofthe looked up telephone terminal 131 to IP telephony server 100 (Process613). At the very end, IP telephony server 100 returns “200 OK” withrespect to telephone terminal 131 (Process 614).

The process flow of the REGISTER command in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. 13.The processes shown in FIG. 13 are launched at START when a REGISTERcommand is received from an IP telephone terminal. First, the extensionnumber and the IP address sent with the REGISTER command are received bycall connection part 102. Next, terminal registration part 101 receivesthe extension number and the IP address from call connection part 102and registers the same in telephone terminal management table 103(Process 1501). E.g., in case IP telephone terminal 131 having theextension number “3001” and the IP address “10.0.1.1” reports theREGISTER command to the IP telephony server, the data are stored bymeans of Process 1501, as shown in FIG. 4.

Subsequently, terminal location detection part 104 receives the IPaddress sent with the REGISTER command from call connection part 102,sends the received IP address of the IP telephone terminal to locationdetection server 200 and requests a detection of the location of the IPtelephone terminal, and location detection server 200, having receivedthe request, returns the floor and the seat number (Process 1502). E.g.,in case IP telephone terminal 131 is installed on Floor “Osaka” and Seat“A2” and the IP address thereof is “10.0.1.1”, it is obtained by meansof the aforementioned processes of FIG. 3, that the floor is “Osaka” andthe seat number is “A2”.

Next, the floor and seat number obtained with Process 1502 areregistered in telephone terminal management table 103 (Process 1503).E.g., in case it is obtained in Process 1502 that the floor is “Osaka”and the seat number is “A2”, the data item “Osaka A2” is stored inlocation ID 403 by means of Process 1503, as shown in FIG. 4. At thevery end, “200 OK” is returned to IP telephone terminal 131 (Process1504). That being all, REGISTER processing comes to an end and IPtelephony server 100 returns to a state of waiting for the subsequentcommand. Also, in case Floor 2 is Floor “Tokyo” and IP telephoneterminal 121 having the extension number “4001” and the IP address“10.0.2.1” is connected at Seat “B1” of Floor 2, there is set, byexecuting the same aforementioned REGISTER processes, the telephoneterminal information that the extension number is “4001”, as shown inFIG. 4.

In the aforementioned series of processes, the result is that,simultaneously with the registration of the IP telephone terminal insideIP telephony server 100, the location of installation of the sameterminal is also registered. If IP telephone terminal 131 isdisconnected from network 110 and once again connected with network 110at a separate location, since there is sent a REGISTER command, which isa terminal registration process request to IP telephony server 100, itcomes about that location ID 403 of telephone terminal management table103 is updated with the same location as the new location ofinstallation, by means of the processes of FIG. 5 and FIG. 13. Inparticular, even with a softphone or a portable terminal, it isconnected with the network at the new location of installation and sincethere can be an update with the same location of installation with thetiming of transmitting the REGISTER command, i.e. the timing ofregistering in IP telephony server 100, it normally becomes possible tosave the most recent connection location.

Also, terminal location detection part 104 may be a location resolutionmeans other than that of the present scheme, a means capable ofdetecting, from an extension number or an IP address, the location ofthe terminal thereof being acceptable. E.g., there is also the scheme ofdetecting, with the installation location or the like of a base stationwith which an on-site PHS (Personal Handyphone System) is accommodated,the location of a PHS terminal, the information in this case becoming onwhich storey of the base floors the correspondent is or the like.

Further, according to the present invention, since a telephone terminalconnection state that sometimes changes by the moment is also grasped,it becomes possible for the user or the administrator, by consultingtelephone terminal management table 103 as the need arises, to learnwhere the same terminal is connected with the aid of the extensionnumber.

2. The Second Embodiment

Subsequently, Embodiment 2 of the IP telephony system will be shown.Specifically, it is an embodiment for which, at the time of placing anoutgoing call, it is made possible to display the location of thetelephone terminal on the incoming call side to the telephone terminalon the outgoing call side and, together with the incoming call, displaythe location of the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side to thetelephone terminal on the incoming call side.

The present embodiment can, as shown in FIG. 1, be implemented bytransferring location data between call connection part 102 of IPtelephony server 100 and call connection parts 141 of IP telephoneterminals 121 and 131 and in the end displaying, with display means 142of IP telephone terminals 121 and 131, location information about theother party.

As an explanation of the present embodiment, e.g., it is chosen that,when the terminal registration process described in Embodiment 1 comesto completion, data of a telephone terminal such as shown in FIG. 4 arestored in telephone terminal management table 103 inside IP telephonyserver 100. Also, the substance of the processes of the presentembodiment will be described in detail using FIG. 8 and FIG. 14 in thecase where, with the extension number of telephone terminal 121 on theoutgoing call side being “4001” and the extension number of telephoneterminal 131 on the incoming call side being “3001”, an outgoing call isplaced from “4001” to “3001”.

FIG. 8 is a call connection sequence in the present embodiment occurringwhen an outgoing telephone call is placed from telephone terminal 121 onthe outgoing call side to telephone terminal 131 on the incoming callside. In the present embodiment, the processing of IP telephony server100 with respect to an INVITE message is a characteristic. First, IPtelephony server 100, if receiving an INVITE command from the telephoneterminal on the outgoing call side (Process 901), searches telephoneterminal management table 103, acquires positional information abouttelephone terminal 131 on the outgoing call side (Process 902), andtransmits it, by addition to the INVITE command, to telephone terminal131 on the incoming call side (Process 903). If telephone terminal 131on the incoming call side receives the INVITE command, it displays thelocation of telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side on adisplay or the like, on the basis of the positional information, addedto the INVITE command, about telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing callside (Process 904). Also, IP telephony server 100, after transmittingthe INVITE command to telephone terminal 131 on the incoming call side,searches telephone terminal management table 103, acquires positionalinformation about telephone terminal 131 on the incoming call side(Process 905), and transmits it by addition to a TRYING command, totelephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side (Process 906).Telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side, if receiving theTRYING command, displays the location of telephone terminal 131 on theincoming call side on a display or the like, on the basis of thepositional information about telephone terminal 131 on the incoming callside, added to the TRYING command (Process 907). By reporting, to therespective terminals, the location information about the other party, itis made possible to display the location of the other party on therespective terminals.

FIG. 14 is a process flow of IP telephony server 100 which receives anINVITE command from the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side andin which the command is executed. First, the extension number of theoutgoing call side, inside the INVITE command, is acquired (Process1601). In the present example, “4001” is acquired. Next, the outgoingcall side location ID corresponding to the extension number on theoutgoing call side is acquired from telephone terminal management table103 (Process 1602). In the present example, telephone terminalmanagement table 103 is examined on the basis of the acquired extensionnumber “4001” and “Tokyo B1” is acquired as the corresponding locationID. Next, the outgoing call side location ID is inserted in an INVITEcommand transmitted to the telephone terminal on the incoming call side,and the INVITE command is transmitted to the telephone terminal on theincoming call side (Process 1603). In the present example, the acquiredlocation ID “Tokyo B1” is inserted in the extension field of the INVITEcommand and transmitted to telephone terminal 131 on the incoming callside.

Next, the incoming call side location ID corresponding to the incomingcall side extension number is acquired from telephone terminalmanagement table 103 (Process 1604). In the present example, telephoneterminal management table 103 is examined on the basis of the extensionnumber “3001” dialed by the INVITE command and “Osaka A2” is acquired asthe corresponding location ID. At the very end, the incoming call sidelocation ID is inserted in a TRYING command transmitted to the telephoneterminal on the outgoing call side, and the TRYING command istransmitted to the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side (Process1605). In the present example, the acquired location ID “Osaka A2” isinserted in the extension field of the TRYING command and transmitted totelephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side. Location display part142 of telephone terminal 131 on the incoming call side and telephoneterminal 121 on the outgoing call side acquires the location IDs insidethe extension fields of the respectively received INVITE command andTRYING command and respectively carries out the screen displays“Location: Tokyo B1” and “Location: Osaka A2”.

In the aforementioned series of processes, as shown in FIG. 9, it comesabout that the location of installation of telephone terminal 131 on theincoming call side is displayed to the calling telephone party as e.g.“Location: Osaka A2” and the location of installation of telephoneterminal 121 on the outgoing call side is displayed to the calledtelephone party as e.g. “Location: Tokyo B1”. The present scheme makespossible, without modifying the standard call connection sequence, adisplay to a telephone terminal of the location of the correspondenttelephone terminal.

3. The Third Embodiment

Next, Embodiment 3 of the IP telephony system is shown. FIG. 10 is ablock diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10shows a configuration in which a floor plan display server 1010 has beenadded to the configuration of FIG. 1 and connected with IP network 110,and comprising a softphone 1022 having a call connection part 1024 on aPC 1021, as the telephone terminal on the incoming call side, andconnected with IP network 110. PC 1021 has a softphone 1022 providedwith a call connection part 1024 function and a floor plan display part1023 which is client software of floor plan display server 1010. Thefloor plan display system is composed of this floor plan display server1010 and floor plan display part 1023.

Here, the expression “floor plan” refers to a diagram indicating thefloor layout of facilities utilizing telephone terminals, an abstractedmodel diagram or the like being acceptable. Also, a floor plan is notonly for indoors but may also indicate the layout associated with anoutdoor range. It is a diagram that is utilized on the occasion ofindicating the position of the telephone terminal of a telephoneconversation partner. Floor plan display server 1010 has a floor plandata part 1012 and a floor plan transmission part 1011. In floor plandata part 1012, there are stored in advance floor plan data that can bedisplayed with respect to a location ID. In response to a request fromfloor plan display part 1023, floor plan transmission part 1011 findsout the concerned floor plan from the floor plan data part and transmitsthe same floor plan data to floor plan display part 1023.

The processes in the case of e.g. an incoming telephone call in FIG. 10being placed from telephone terminal 121 with number “4001” located atSeat “B1” of Floor 2, Floor 2 being “Tokyo”, to softphone 1022 withnumber “3001” on Floor 1 are explained in detail using FIG. 11. Thefunctioning up to the incoming call side softphone 1022 receiving anINVITE command and acquiring the location ID of telephone terminal 121on the outgoing call side is the same as in FIG. 8.

In FIG. 11, IP telephony server 100 receives an INVITE command fromtelephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side (Process 1101),acquires the location ID of telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing callside from telephone terminal management table 103 (Process 1102), andtransmits, by addition to the INVITE command, the acquired location IDto softphone 1022 on the incoming call side (Process 1103). If softphone1022 on the incoming call side receives the INVITE command, it displaysthe location of telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side on adisplay or the like on the basis of the location ID, added to the INVITEcommand, of telephone terminal 121 on the outgoing call side (Process1104).

The processes up to displaying the outgoing call side location onsoftphone 1022 on the incoming call side are the same as in FIG. 10. Theprocess steps thereafter will below be described in detail. Softphone1022 on the incoming call side, after displaying the location of theoutgoing call side, reports the location ID to floor plan display part1023 (Process 1105). In the present example, “Tokyo B1” is reported asthe location ID. Next, floor plan display part 1023 reports the locationID to floor plan display server 1010 (Process 1106). In the presentexample, “Tokyo B1” is reported as the location ID.

Subsequently, floor plan display server 1010, using the reportedlocation ID, looks up the floor plan of the requested floor in a floorplan data storage table 1900 shown in FIG. 17 (Process 1107). The floorplan data storage table includes location IDs 1901 and floor plans 1902.In the present example, the floor plan data “Floor Tokyo” correspondingto the location ID “Tokyo B1” are looked up. Further, floor plan displayserver 1010, using the location ID and the floor plan data, looks up thecoordinate data corresponding to the floor plan data of the location IDfrom a coordinate storage table 2000 in which there is storedinformation showing on which coordinates the floor plan data looked upwith the location IDs shown in FIG. 18 are positioned. The coordinatestorage table includes floor plans 2001, location IDs 2002, andcoordinate data 2003.

In the present embodiment, the coordinate data are expressed in Xcoordinates and Y coordinates. Even over and above this, rectangular Xcoordinates and Y coordinates of the four corners of the room may bestored respectively in order to show the definite domain of floor plandata information. In this example, the coordinate data “(x1, y1)”corresponding to the floor plan data “Floor Tokyo” and the location ID“Tokyo B1” are looked up.

Next, the floor plan data and coordinate data looked up in Process 1107are transmitted to floor plan display part 1023 (Process 1108). At thevery end, floor plan display part 1023 displays the floor plan on a PC(Process 1109).

In the aforementioned series of processes, when an incoming call sidesoftphone 1022, with which it becomes possible to display a displayscreen 1301 such as exemplified in FIG. 12 on the screen of PC 1021,receives an incoming telephone call, the location ID of telephoneterminal 121 on the outgoing call side is displayed to a telephoneconversation correspondent display part 1302 on the screen of PC 1021and it comes about that, as for telephone conversation correspondentposition display part 1303, the plan of the floor where the telephoneterminal on the outgoing call side is installed is visually displayed.

In the diagram, the location ID is “Tokyo B1” and in position displaypart 1303, the layout of “Floor Tokyo” is displayed and by changing thecolor of the coordinate “(x1, y1)” portion corresponding to the locationID “Tokyo B1”, it is possible to visually present, with respect to theuser, the seating location of the telephone conversation correspondent.

Also, the floor plan display server may also be a server capable ofdisplaying the seating state of the same floor and in this case, itcomes to be that, simultaneously with the incoming telephone call theseating state of the staff members is also displayed on the plan of thefloor on which the telephone terminal on the outgoing call side isinstalled. According to the aforementioned embodiment, since the plan ofthe floor of the calling party is displayed simultaneously with theincoming telephone call, it comes to be that it is possible to carry ona conversation while feeling at ease as one confirms the location of thetelephone conversation correspondent and the seating situation of thesurroundings.

The present invention can be utilized with an IP telephony system. Inparticular, it is effective in the case of utilizing a telephoneterminal such as a softphone or a portable wireless IP terminal, forwhich there is a possibility that the location of connection changes,and finding out the seating location thereof.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. A call connection device connected with a plurality of telephoneterminals via a network, comprising: a call connection part for carryingout call connection processing between said plurality of telephoneterminals; a terminal registration part registering the IP addresses ofsaid telephone terminals; and a terminal location detection partdetecting the installation locations of said telephone terminals.
 2. Thecall connection device according to claim 1, comprising: a summary relaydevice table storage part connected with said telephone terminals and asummary communication interface table storage part administering aplurality of communication interfaces having said relay devices forconnecting with said telephone terminals; and wherein: said terminallocation detection part consults said summary relay device table storagepart and said summary communication interface table storage part; anddetects the locations of said telephone terminals.
 3. A call connectiondevice connected with a plurality of telephone terminals via a network,comprising: a call connection part for carrying out call connectionprocessing between said plurality of telephone terminals; a terminalregistration part registering the IP addresses of said telephoneterminals; and a terminal location detection part detecting theinstallation locations of said telephone terminals; and wherein: saidterminal location detection part comprises a summary relay device tablestorage part connected with said telephone terminals and a summarycommunication interface table storage part administering a plurality ofcommunication interfaces having said relay devices for connecting withsaid telephone terminals; said call connection part acquires, each timeone of said telephone terminals gets connected with one of saidcommunication interfaces, the IP address of said telephone terminal viasaid terminal registration part; and said terminal location detectionpart consults said summary relay device table storage part and saidsummary communication interface table storage part and utilizes the IPaddress of said telephone terminal to examine with which communicationinterface of which relay device said connected telephone terminal isconnected.
 4. The call connection device according to claim 3, whereinsaid summary relay device table storage part stores an identifiercapable of uniquely identifying said relay device and the IP addresscorrespondence of said relay device.
 5. The call connection deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein said summary communication interface tablestorage part stores an identifier capable of uniquely identifying saidrelay device, an identifier capable of uniquely identifying saidcommunication interface, and the positional information correspondencecorresponding to said communication interface.
 6. The call connectiondevice according to claim 5, wherein said terminal location detectionpart: requests, with respect to the relay device corresponding to anidentifier stored in said summary relay device table storage part, theMAC address of said telephone terminal as a search key of the IP addressof said telephone terminal; if receiving the MAC address of saidtelephone terminal from said relay device connected with said telephoneterminal, requests, with respect to said relay device having returnedthe MAC address of said telephone terminal, the identifier of saidcommunication interface with which said telephone terminal is connected,taking the MAC address of said telephone terminal to be a search key;and, if receiving the identifier of said communication interfaceconnected with said telephone terminal, consults said summarycommunication interface table storage part and acquires said receivedpositional information corresponding to said communication interfacewith which said telephone terminal is connected.
 7. A call connectiondevice connected with a plurality of telephone terminals via a networkand supplying, to said telephone terminals, positional information aboutthe telephone terminals of their respective telephone conversationcorrespondents, comprising: a telephone terminal management part storingthe identity information and positional information correspondences ofsaid telephone terminals; and a call connection part which, if receivinga call connection request from a telephone terminal on the outgoing callside, extracts positional information about said outgoing call sidetelephone terminal from said telephone terminal management part, usingidentity information about the outgoing call side telephone terminalincluded in said call connection request; adds it to said callconnection request; transfers said call connection request to saidreception side terminal; extracts positional information about saidincoming call side telephone terminal from said telephone terminalmanagement part, from the identity information about the incoming callside telephone terminal included in said call connection request; andtransmits the reply with respect to said call connection request, inwhich said positional information is added, to said outgoing call sidetelephone terminal.
 8. The call connection device according to claim 7,comprising: a floor plan storage part in which the floor plans of thebuilding in which said telephone terminal is used are stored; and afloor plan transmission part which, if there is received a request, fromsaid incoming call side telephone terminal having received said callconnection request or said outgoing call side telephone terminal havingreceived said reply message, for a floor plan corresponding to thepositional information about the telephone terminals of the respectivetelephone conversation correspondents, respectively returns, to saidoutgoing call side telephone terminal or said incoming call sidetelephone terminal, the floor plans corresponding to the positionalinformation about said telephone terminals respectively engaged in saidtelephone conversation.
 9. A plurality of telephone terminals,respectively comprising: a call connection part carrying out callconnection processing with a call connection device carrying out theprocessing of the identifier of, and positional information about, saidtelephone terminal and receiving a message including positionalinformation about the telephone terminal of the telephone conversationcorrespondent from said call connection device during said callconnection processing; and a location display part displaying saidreceived positional information about the telephone terminal of thetelephone conversation correspondent.
 10. The telephone terminalaccording to claim 9, wherein, in the case of making a call connectionwith the telephone terminal of a telephone conversation correspondent: acall connection request is transmitted to said call connection device bymeans of said call connection part; a reply with respect to said callconnection request including positional information about the telephoneterminal of said telephone conversation correspondent is received bymeans of said call connection part; and said received positionalinformation about the terminal of the telephone conversationcorrespondent is displayed by means of said local display part.
 11. Thetelephone terminal according to claim 9, wherein, in the case ofreceiving a call connection request from the telephone terminal of atelephone conversation correspondent: a transfer of the call connectionrequest, including positional information about the telephone terminalof said telephone conversation correspondent, is received from said callconnection device by means of said call connection part; and saidreceived positional information about the terminal of the telephoneconversation correspondent is displayed by means of said locationdisplay part.
 12. The telephone terminal according to claim 9, whereinsaid location display part requests, with respect to said callconnection device, a floor plan corresponding to said receivedpositional information about the telephone terminal of the telephoneconversation correspondent.
 13. The telephone terminal according toclaim 11, wherein: the seat corresponding to the received positionalinformation of the telephone terminal of the telephone conversationcorrespondent is included in said floor plan; and said location displaypart changes the color of the seat corresponding to said receivedpositional information about the telephone terminal of the telephoneconversation correspondent and displays said floor plan.
 14. A telephonesystem in which a plurality of telephone terminals and a call connectiondevice carrying out the call connection processing of said telephoneterminals are connected via a network, wherein: said telephone terminalsrespectively comprise a call connection part carrying out callconnection processing with said call connection device and receive amessage including positional information about the telephone terminal ofthe telephone conversation correspondent from said call connectiondevice during said call connection processing; and a location displaypart displaying said received positional information about the telephoneterminal of the telephone conversation correspondent; and said callconnection device comprises: a call connection part for carrying outcall connection processing between said plurality of telephoneterminals; a terminal registration part registering the IP addresses ofsaid telephone terminals; a telephone terminal management storage partstoring information pertaining to said telephone terminals by means ofsaid terminal registration part; and a terminal location detection partdetecting the installation locations of said telephone terminals if theIP addresses of the telephone terminals are registered in the callconnection device.